Jewett City borough candidates shuffled

The current Jewett City borough warden said this week he hopes to return to the borough’s governing board this spring, but as a burgess, not as warden.

By ALISON SHEA

The Bulletin

By ALISON SHEA

Posted Feb. 10, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 10, 2013 at 10:02 AM

By ALISON SHEA

Posted Feb. 10, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 10, 2013 at 10:02 AM

Jewett City, Conn.

The current Jewett City borough warden said this week he hopes to return to the borough’s governing board this spring, but as a burgess, not as warden.

John Connelly is finishing up his first two-year term as the borough warden. He said it’s been a good ride, but he wants to go back to being a burgess.

“Between teaching for 35 years, working seasonally for the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) all those years and being a burgess and now warden, That’s over 50 years dedicated to being a public servant. I just want a break,” he said.

Being warden was never a position he sought out, he said; it was the other way around. However, he said, it’s one he would consider returning to in the future if he changes his mind.

Connelly was endorsed by the town Democrats for a second term in January. When Democrats meet for their regular monthly meeting next week, they will reshuffle the borough’s slate. Burgess Alan Geer, the most senior burgess on the board, is expected to switch places with Connelly on the ballot.

Geer, 66, has lived in Jewett City since 1970 and is a familiar face about town, having been a firefighter (he’s now a life member of the Jewett City department), an ambulance and school bus driver and, when the borough still had its own force, a police officer. He’s currently a bail bondsman in Norwich.

This is the first time he’s thrown his hat in the ring for warden, he said, but not the first time he’s been asked. He said he was asked to run several years ago when longtime warden Cynthia Kata was looking to retire, but he declined, thinking he and his wife, Donna, would themselves move to Florida to retire. This time, though, he knows he’s staying put for a while.

“I think I can do a good job of it and make at least 90 percent of the people happy. You can’t please everybody,” he said. “But I look forward to serving the borough.”

His goal, he said, is to increase cooperation between the borough and the town of Griswold.

Clerk Valerie Pudvah said changing the endorsements for borough offices has been done before, usually when candidates died suddenly. Town Democratic party chairman Richard Duda said this is the first time he’s had to preside over a switch in a situation like this, but he expects it to go smoothly.

“I don’t expect any issues. They’re both agreeable to it, and they’re both people who have held office for a number of years,” he said.